Zoas acting wierd-

[thecoral-monger]

Dont know much about the hobby and that is where the problem starts. I have a wide assortment of zoas in my tank and for some reason must of the zoa colonies are no longer opening up. They are now growing algae on them and it looks like some are dying.

Does anybody have sugguestions on what I should do or what is going on. My tank is serviced by my local fish shop so i dont really know the stats of the tank. any help would be great

 

[drummereef]

That would be the first order of buisness is find out your water params asap.

 

[chrisstie]

Get some test kits and a hydrometer\refractometer (either will measure salinity)

Your params should look close to these:
sg 1.025
pH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates < 10ppm (hopefully not many but hey, who doesn't overfeed every now and then)

and if have any hard corals you really wanna check out your Calcium (420ish is ideal) and alk and magnesium

Also check for any nudibranchs spiders or other nasty litlte things that could be chowing down on them...

And my final bit of advice which has helped me- sometimes they get irritated from the strangest things.. if you can use a pipette to gently blow off any of the algae or anything so as to not hurt the polyps but keep them clean it should also help

 

[MUCHO REEF]

thecoral-monger, with all due respect, I would take some time out and read as much as possible in this forum and others. There are a host of good books to buy/read etc. I would join a local reef club or find a good reefing buddy locally who can help you. I would also ask LFS to help since they are servicing your tank.

What kind of water are you using? Do not use tap water. It is loaded with with RINE's, phosphates, silicates etc that are bad for your tank and will surely promote an algae bloom.

Have you tested your phosphates ?
Are you feeding your tank, if so, what?

There could be a host of reasons why this is happening. More details are needed. Good luck.

Mucho Reef

 

[dragonladylea]

Also, what kind of water flow do you have in your tank?

 

[geoxman]

Since your tank is serviced by your local fish shop, then I would start by asking them, after all you are paying for their service. I am sure you pay enough $$ for the service so have them come out and fix the problem.
If you corals are dying then I would not pay your invoice to the pet shop, they put them in there! They are the pros that you are counting on and they should know when is the right time to add such things.
Good luck and happy pay reefing